


Be here (please)

by sofialindsay



Series: Doctor-in-a-Pandemic Series [2]
Category: Happiest Season (2020)
Genre: F/F, Riley is a gay mess, and a bit obsessed with whipped cream apparently, and yet here we are, this was meant to be a one-shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:09:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28859361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sofialindsay/pseuds/sofialindsay
Summary: “Oh my God,” Riley repeats, “Abby you can’t be here! No, that came out wrong. I want you here, but you can’t be here!"This takes place after "Be safe for me, please," but before "I'll get you lost, but I'm having fun." You won't be totally lost if you haven't read either.
Relationships: Abby Holland/Riley Bennett, Abby Holland/Riley Johnson
Series: Doctor-in-a-Pandemic Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2103642
Comments: 8
Kudos: 108





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Also yes, I'm well aware my spelling goes between American English and British English. That's what happens when you're American-born yet move to a Commonwealth country. Apologies in advance.

After a double shift leading up to four days off, Riley has barely been home from work an hour before she’s half asleep on the couch. Usually this would be precious time spent on the phone with Abby, but with the promise of four days of video calls ahead of them, and Abby’s insistence that she was driving to the grocery store and could not stay on the phone like usual, sleep had won out for her attention. Sadly, whomever was knocking on the door had different ideas. 

Standing, she’s fighting a yawn as she makes her way to the door. Any other time she’d worry about her appearance, but it’s probably the Amazon girl trying to deliver a package to the wrong apartment again. Or her elderly neighbour asking for a teaspoon of Coriander, which as someone who lives on takeout and delivery, she would obviously have on hand.

The friendly yet stern “you have the wrong apartment” is on the tip of her tongue as she opens the door. “Abby?!” 

She stares, halfway convinced she’s dreaming or hallucinating. Either is possible based on the amount of sleep she’s had over the last few days. “Oh my God. How...You’re here?”

The blonde, loaded down with grocery bags and sporting a shy smile, shrugs, “Surprise?”

“Oh my God,” Riley repeats, “Abby you can’t be here! No, that came out wrong. I _want_ you here, but you can’t be here! You haven't had the vaccine yet and we don’t know...I could be carrying it and you’re at risk. Abby..."

“I’ve had it. I didn’t tell you but I got the second dose two weeks ago. I wanted to surprise you. I talked to Ben, who told me to remind you he is a fully-qualified doctor like yourself and knows what he’s talking about, and he assured me I’m fully vaccinated and ready to mingle with my hot doctor.”

Abby carefully sets the bags down and produces the vaccination record card she packed just in case her girlfriend decided to be stubborn. Riley, still keeping precious distance between them, reaches to take it and looks at the date. Shaking her head, she chuckles, “So that’s why you had that two-day headache. Really, Abby, do you _know_ how worried I was?”

“I didn’t mean to worry you, but I also knew if you knew what I was planning, you’d try to talk me out of it. Riley, it’s been almost a year. I needed to see you. I drove straight here, had John order the groceries online for me and picked them up curbside because I figured you didn’t have any food here.”

She watches as the emotions play across Riley’s face, noticing that there are actual tears forming in the doctor’s eyes. Riley lets out a disbelieving laugh before opening her arms for the smaller woman to fly into. Her arms wrap around Abby, who buries her face in Riley’s neck. 

“You’re really here.” 

“I am,” Abby pulls back to look up at her, “And I have a doctor’s official opinion that I can safely kiss my girlfriend, if she were up for that.” 

“I’m going to kill Ben,” Riley mutters right before their lips touch. Suddenly, a year of yearning and desire has an outlet and Riley’s head spins with the realization. Pulling back, she presses a kiss to Abby’s forehead. “How long do I have you for?”

Abby gives her a sheepish look. “I brought a bag but didn’t know how long you’d want me to stay. I can leave tomorr--”

“Absolutely not. I want at least four days.”

“At least?” Abby tries not to sound too hopeful, but knows from Riley’s grin she heard it anyways. She lets the doctor help her move the groceries inside before the door shuts behind them. She quickly finds herself pressed back against the solid wood. 

“Abby, it’s been a year. If it were up to me, you’d be here for good,” Riley manages to get out in between kissing the other woman. Her hands begin to roam under Abby’s jacket with the intention of reaching skin when the blonde pulls back. “What’s wrong? Fuck, I’m moving too fast, aren’t I?”

“No!” Abby objects, “Not too fast. Just...some of the groceries need to be put in the fridge. And I need to wash my hands. I had to touch the door and I just…”

Riley looks absolutely proud as she moves the bags to the kitchen and begins to put the frozen and cold items away. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so turned on by someone wanting to wash their hands. I’ve taught you so well!”

“Yeah well, just be glad I don’t request to take a shower first,” Abby replies as she turns the water on. “Usually after traveling that’s the first thing I do.” 

“I would offer to let you take one, but frankly,” Riley waves a newly discovered can of whipped cream around, “I’m certain you’re going to need one later so I suggest you wait.”

Abby looks up from washing her hands, amusement written on her face. “Oh? You seem so sure I got that for you to have fun with."

The teasing tone is obvious but Riley is having nothing short of a gay panic meltdown at the prospect of being in the same place as her girlfriend. “Not that I’m being presumptuous! God I’m not that much of a horny asshole. What we do or don’t do is entirely up to you!”

“Babe, do you _really_ think I drove all the way here to eat whipped-cream on ice cream and watch movies?”

Riley bites her lip. “No? I mean, I don’t think so? Fuck, Abby...”

Foregoing drying her hands, Abby reaches out and tangles her fingers in the other woman’s sweater and pulls, giving her no choice but to move into the blonde. Their lips meet again and Riley can’t resist letting her hands once again slip under the jacket and hoodie. Her desperate attempt to reach skin runs into another roadblock when she encounters another layer of clothing. She pulls back frowning. “You are wearing way too many layers for what I want to do to you.”

“You should do something about that,” Abby counters, “Assuming you have a bed somewhere in this place.”

“I have a perfectly comfortable bed, but right now, I really can’t promise we’ll make it there for the first round.” 

It’s a bit cocky and stated with such conviction Abby can’t help but shiver and reach for the hem of Riley’s shirt. “I don’t care where you fuck me, but if you aren’t out of these clothes and doing it soon, I’m going to need a really cold shower.”

Riley raises her arms to assist with the removal of her shirt before pushing the jacket off of Abby’s shoulders. “The only problem I see here is you say _fuck_ like this is going to be a quickie. But babe, I’ve waited a year. I am absolutely going to take my time and enjoy this.” 

~~

It’s after midnight when they find themselves back in the kitchen. Abby works to throw together a simple pasta while Riley, having been banned from getting within arm’s reach of the blonde after a few failed attempts to distract her, watches from her seat on the counter. The doctor realizes how domestic the scene in front of her is and bites her lip. “Were you serious about staying all four days?” 

“If you want me to. I didn’t want to assume you’d want me all up in your space that long.” 

“What would it take to convince you to stay longer?” Riley asks quietly. 

Abby moves the pasta to the sink to drain and crosses the room to stand in front of Riley. “You would want me here longer?”

“I mean, you’re working from home right? I’m still working a lot, so you would have the apartment to yourself during the day. If I happened to be here, I’d likely be sleeping and wouldn’t bother you. We’ve been together a year and haven’t been in the same place until now. I really would like to see how having you around all the time would be.”

“I brought my laptop and work stuff just in case.” Abby admits. “I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to leave you Sunday night. But, you have to tell me if I’m overstaying at any point, or if you need your space. I’ll let John know I’m going to stay a few...weeks?”

She sees the slight frown on Riley’s face and arches her eyebrow, “How long do you want me to stay?”

Riley looks away shyly, “I was thinking a few...months...to start with?”

“ _Months?!”_

“Abs, I’m a doctor who just spent the last year living in a hospital during a deadly pandemic.” Riley takes a deep breath to compose herself, “We missed out on dating. I never got to take you out to dinner. Instead I was watching people say goodbye to their loved ones through fucking _FaceTime._ And through all of that, you were the one thing that kept me sane and grounded. I love you. I am so fucking _in_ love with you. I was so afraid all those months and now that you’re here, I don’t want you to leave. I want you in my apartment and in my arms every night. I don’t want to waste anymore time seeing if this is _it_ for us. I want you here with me, and if you don’t murder me in my sleep after living with me for a few months then maybe we can make it permanent.”

“I’ll stay.” Abby reaches out to brush away the tears that are leaving tracks down the tan skin. “I’ll stay until you get tired of me. I know it’s not the same and I didn’t see the same things you did, but you’re not the only one who lived in fear, Ri. I don’t think I actually stopped living in a constant state of panic for you until after you got the second shot. And even then, even now, I’m still terrified for you. I want to see where this takes us. And if that means me living here with you until they force me to go back into the office, I’m up for that.”

“By then, I’ll probably be done with residency. We could have more options.” 

“True, but babe, that’s months down the road. For now, how about we eat the pasta before it gets cold and then go back to bed? We can sleep in late tomorrow then figure out what we want to do this weekend.” 

Riley nods, “The plates are above the microwave. I’ll grab us something to drink. It’s too late for wine but I think I have some juice in the fridge.”

They set about doing their separate tasks when Abby hears her name. Turning, she sees her girlfriend standing next to the fridge with an absolutely evil grin on her face as she once again holds up the can of whipped cream.

“So, if you didn’t bring this for ice cream, what exactly did you have in mind?”


	2. Plans of the future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living with Riley is exactly what Abby expected it to be: calming, a little chaotic, but mostly normal

As it turns out, living with Riley is exactly what Abby expected it to be: calming, a little chaotic, but mostly normal. She learns quickly to ignore and resist the urge to organize the piles of journals and medical books that find their way onto the coffee table, while Riley adapts to the fact she may never have to live off delivery again. It may have taken a week to find a new routine, a period of time in which the doctor may have interrupted one or two of Abby’s lectures with rather unfortunately-timed suggestions, but she’s convinced Riley was more traumatized by the ordeal than anyone in the lecture and uses it as basis for teasing often.

Now, it’s two months in and Abby is slowly coming around to the idea that perhaps paying rent in Pittsburgh is a bit useless if she doesn’t plan on going back anytime soon. John dutifully checks on her place every week and gathers her mail but she knows she can’t rely on him forever; a recent promotion has him scheduled to relocate to New York City in the next month or so. The University knows she’s working from Baltimore, but she’s also pretty sure they’re going to request she return to Pittsburgh at some point if for no other reason than to clean out her office so it can be reassigned to someone who will actually use it. And none of those issues even takes into account the weather is changing and she’ll need to either swap out clothes or go shopping soon. So yes, she’s rapidly approaching the point where major decisions need to be discussed and made. She’s so lost in thought she doesn’t hear the front door open or her girlfriend calling her name.

“Hey love, everything okay?”

Riley’s voice finally pulls her out of her stupor and she smiles apologetically as the brunette leans down for a kiss. “Sorry. I was lost in thought. How was your day?”

“Stressful,” Riley replies softly, “I told them today I don’t plan on doing a fellowship and my mentor wasn’t exactly thrilled. Is everything okay though? You were pretty out of it when I got home.”

Abby reaches out for her hand and squeezes reassuringly. “I’m fine. I was just thinking about my apartment and stuff.”

“Oh. Do you want to go back to Pittsburgh?”

It’s not an accusation but Abby can hear the insecurity laced throughout the doctor’s words. “Not especially but I’m going to need to go back for summer clothes and I should really check on things. I’m sure John’s got it under control but after the fish incident I’m...cautious. I was also thinking, if I’m going to be here for a few more months, maybe talking to my landlord to see if I could sublet to a student or something. With John leaving, I can’t let the place go unattended for months at a time.”

“I guess it doesn’t make sense to pay rent for a place you haven’t seen in months.” 

“Not really,” Abby bites her lip, “and the longer I’m here, the more I feel I should be contributing to rent here. Or at least more than the groceries.”

“Babe, you know I  _ want  _ you here. I don’t need you to chip in on rent or anything. It definitely wouldn’t make sense for you to contribute to rent at  _ two  _ places.”

“I’m not exactly sure what to do.” Abby admits softly. “I can’t imagine not waking up next to you anymore.”

“And I can’t imagine not coming home to you after work, so how much do you have left on your lease?”

“Three months. I have to tell the landlord 60-days before if I intend to re-sign or move out, so I have to decide by the end of this month.” 

Riley bites her lip and lets the silence fall over them as she debates what to say. Finally, she takes a deep breath. “The next few months will be busy and stressful for us. I’ll be studying a lot for my exam and, I can’t be sure because I’ve never had a roommate before, I may be a bear to live with dur--”

“Do you want me to go back to Pittsburgh until your exam is over?”

“No!” Riley replies quickly, “That’s not what I’m trying to say at all. Fuck, I’m screwing this up. I don’t think you should renew your lease. I think you should plan to move out and move in with me. Whether that’s here in this apartment or wherever I end up post-residency. We could...start planning our future together, Abs.”

Abby watches her closely, picking up on the nervous tics her girlfriend shows without meaning to. “Just to be clear, you want me to give up my place and move in with you, in whatever city that may be?”

“I want us to discuss what cities we would consider moving to. We could stay here, or move to New York, or even move to the West Coast if you wanted. We just need a city with a good hospital and a good museum, just in case work decides you can’t work remotely anymore. My point is, I don’t want to go back to a long-distance relationship; I want us to consider our future together as partners, I guess, rather than girlfriends trying to figure out if this is something we actually want. Because I do want this. Us. I want us to figure out where we want to live, and argue over where we take vacations, and get drunk at the Caldwell’s White Elephant party together. And I promise you, my family knows about us and will have zero issues with us sharing a room and waking up next to each other on Christmas morning.” 

“Oh the shade,” the blonde teases, “but I want all of that. I’ll send an email to my landlord tomorrow to go ahead and let her know I won’t be renewing my lease.”

Riley beams. “We can take a weekend and drive to Pittsburgh to take care of everything if you want. Mom and Dad are vaccinated so we could swing by and say hi to them too; they’re dying to formally meet you.” 

Leaning into her, Abby smiles. “I’d like to meet them. Have you given any thought on where you want to go next? Like, do you want to stay on at Hopkins or move?”

The question makes Riley hesitate long enough for Abby to give her a questioning look, which she returns with a reassuring smile. “I have thoughts on this, but I don’t want to steer your thinking on where we go. I’m serious when I say I want us to decide together.” 

“Okay, how’s this? Let’s get a piece of paper and write down our top cities we’d want to consider. Then we can share them and discuss.”

“I knew I loved you for something more than your body,” Riley teases as she reaches for a nearby notepad. Tearing off two pieces of paper, she hands one to the blonde as the other woman hands her a pen in return. While Riley takes her time writing a list, Abby is done quickly, and when the doctor realizes this, her heart squeezes just a bit. There’s no way Abby had enough time to write more than a city or two down, and for the first time the brunette has concerns that their future may not align. Laying the pen down, she looks at the blonde. “Do you want to go first?”

Abby shakes her head. “You can.”

Riley swallows and turns her paper towards the other woman, her top five cities scrawled out in barely-legible handwriting:   


_ New York City _

_ Boston _

_ Baltimore _

_ Pittsburgh _

_ LA _

Without a word, Abby flips her own paper over. 

_ Wherever you are _

_ But please not Alaska _

“Abby…” Riley manages to get out before the smile turns into laughs. “Are you fucking serious? That is not a list of cities!”

“Yes I’m fucking serious. I don’t care where we live. Right now I can work from anywhere, and when I can’t, I’ll find another job.” To Abby, it really is that simple. She’d even consider moving to Riley’s hometown if that’s where she chose to work, though she’s not entirely sure what the museum situation is there. “I could live in any of the cities on your list. Though if we decide upon Pittsburgh, we’ll still have to find a new place. Mine is too small and not nearly as nice as this place.”

“I really want to move to New York,” Riley admits, “and knowing John is there supports that. He could show us around and keep you company when I’m on overnights or something. And there are plenty of museums and universities there.”   
  
Abby looks at her skeptically. “I’m pretty sure what you mean by that is he’ll have enough time to scout out the gay bars and drag shows before we move, but I appreciate your attempt at being sweet.”

“So New York will be our plan, and if it falls through, we go down the list until we find a hospital that wants me. This seems way too easy. Are you sure you don’t want to stay in Pittsburgh? I know teaching at Carnegie Mellon is important to you. What about when they decide to return to in-class lectures?”

“That’s not happening anytime soon,” Abby shrugs, “and yeah, it was important to me to follow in my parent’s footsteps. But I did and I know they’d be proud of me for getting my PhD. But I also know they’d be furious if I gave up what we have over a job, and downright pissed if I did that under some misguided attempt to carry on their legacy. They would want me to choose love- to choose  _ you _ . It’s that easy so yeah, I’m sure about this.” 

The look of happiness on Riley’s face rivals that of the day Abby showed up at her front door and she reaches to pull the blonde into her arms. “We have a rough draft of our future laid out. My parents will be so thrilled.” 

“John will be so thrilled, especially after what he went through to get us together.” Abby laughs as she leans in to give the brunette a kiss. In return, Riley falls backwards on the couch, pulling the smaller woman on top of her. Soon, Abby’s shirt finds its way to the floor and Riley’s shirt and jeans are unbuttoned but things come to a grinding halt as the doctor pulls back with a look of concern on her face. 

“Hey love, if we end up in New York, can we agree that we won’t live in the same building as John?”

Abby chuckles. “Babe, if we end up in New York, we aren’t living in the same  _ neighbourhood _ as him.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not beta'd, and to be honest I have so many different stories going at any given time I forget which city they're in and which hospital Riley works for. And my Bostonian will never let me live down the fact I forgot they were in Boston put Riley at Hopkins instead of Childrens in one fic so yeah. Lesson learned.


End file.
